But Hays Travel is continuing to turn up the dial, Dame Irene Hays said, confirming targets for the next two Saturdays were even higher than at the start of the year, echoing the sentiment of agents around the country that stronger demand is expected as the month continues. 

“We’ve had a fantastic start to the new year. January is a really important month, traditionally the busiest in the financial year, so to get off to a good start is really encouraging,” Dame Irene told TTG.

“Last year we did better on the second and the third Saturday, and we’re anticipating that we’ll do the same this year,” she confirmed.

Cruise sales significantly up on 2023

Cruise was the surprise star performer for the UK’s largest independent travel agency, with a significant increase in bookings on the same time last year.

“For us so far, our cruise performance is much stronger than it was this time last year – and it’s the cruise increase in percentage relative to last year has been the surprising factor.”

At Hays Travel’s annual conference in the Algarve in November 2023, cruise was cited as a priority for the business in the coming years, but Dame Irene also nodded to the “appetite for cruise” among customers, along with the benefits of choice and value for money a cruise holiday brings.

“If people are looking for something different over the summer, let’s get them on a cruise,” she remarked.

All regions "performed well" at the weekend, with Northern Ireland turning out a “very strong” performance, Dame Irene said. 

There were also impressive starts to the year for the agency’s network of homeworkers, with Dame Irene adding she expected homeworkers to come to the fore this coming weekend and next. Hays Travel Independence Group members meanwhile saw buoyant sales, with many of those recording their best day ever on Sunshine Saturday.

Bookings for lates 

Dame Irene said the season mix of bookings on Sunshine Saturday had also surprised the business. While just over half were for summer 2024, those for lates in winter 2023 accounted for nearly a third (32%) of Saturday’s bookings. 

A third of the customers coming through the doors on Saturday were “new to Hays Travel, so one in three customers were moving away from online or elsewhere,” she said.

Dame Irene had held on to some caution for expectations for January 2024 after an “exceptional” start to 2023, she conceded to TTG, with a nod to her reference at the conference to research suggesting that customers were holding on to their money for longer.  

Second peaks for agent sales

“To be honest, we thought the exceptional January we had last year was due to pent-up demand and a bounce back. I thought last year’s performance in January and February was particularly strong, therefore if we had matched that performance this year, I’d have been very happy. However, we’ve exceeded it.

“It is our best day on record, and all our people worked so hard to look after customers – they are excited and motivated. Many of them were reporting queues out the door!”

When pressed on expectations for 2024, Dame Irene said she was “quietly optimistic, if the evidence of last Saturday is anything to go by”.

She reiterated her prediction of a pre-summer second peaks, pointing to the capacity coming in over the summer, particularly from Jet2holidays, easyJet holidays and Tui.

“Research was indicating that the customers would be holding on to their money for longer. It might happen over the coming months but at the minute, there’s no evidence of that.

“I still believe there will be a second peaks because of the capacity coming into the market over the summer, and that there are some people who haven’t travelled who will have an appetite to do so this year.”